SONY ROLLY

The latest Sony music player, the Rolly, will be released in Japan on the 29th of September.

The palmtop Rolly, features stereo speakers, 1 Gb of flash memory, and runs on a rechargeable lithium ion battery, and is packaged inside the egg-shaped body weighing 300g. It also integrates various audio technologies Sony had developed to produce clear sounds. Unlike other music players, instead of using an LCD display the Rolly has a minimalistic interface, consisting of a combined power and play button, and two wheels, which can be used to navigate through tracks, albums and to control the volume level.

The Rolly features three motion functions enabling it to synchronise movement to the music. The self-motion function analyzes the wavelength data making the player move and controlling the lights automatically in time with the music.

The auto-motion function uses the bundled Motion Editor software to automatically generate movement and light programs. and the custom-motion function also using the Motion Editor, allows the user to precisely configure the movements of the players six motors and the timing and color of the LED side lights to create unique motion data.

The lithium-ion battery lasts 4 to 5 hours when the player is playing music and in motion and it can be charged either via USB or mains power.

The Rolly, which also supports streaming and transfer of music and data via Bluetooth, is open-priced but is expected to hit the market at about 40,000 yen or close to US$350.